“These developments raise serious concerns regarding the Commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures and are antithetical to the Commission’s tripart mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) sent a letter to Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to request an explanation for today’s errant announcement that the SEC had approved the use of spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The announcement, which was publicized via the SEC’s X account this afternoon, was not corrected for approximately 15 minutes, leading to drastic swings in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Senator Vance’s letter reads, in part:
“On January 9th at 4:11pm, the Commission’s official X account announced that it had approved Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to be listed on all registered U.S. securities exchanges. The announcement was immediately reported by major news outlets and shared widely on social media, resulting in the price of Bitcoin significantly spiking in value. At 4:26pm, you posted on X that the Commission’s account was compromised and made an unauthorized post, clarifying that the Commission had not approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products. The news, introducing widespread confusion regarding the approval status of Bitcoin ETFs, caused the price of Bitcoin to plummet.
“These developments raise serious concerns regarding the Commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures and are antithetical to the Commission’s tripart mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. The announcement and subsequent reversal led to extreme volatility in the price of Bitcoin. Investors were, and remain, incredibly confused by the Commission’s communications surrounding the long-awaited and consequential decision regarding Bitcoin ETFs. The United States is home to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital markets and stability and soundness are imperative if investors are to maintain their trust in our markets. It is unacceptable that the agency entrusted with regulating the epicenter of the world’s capital markets would make such a colossal error.”
Read the full letter here and below:
For Background:
- Bloomberg: SEC X Account Compromised to Falsely Say Bitcoin ETFs Approved
- The New York Times: SEC’s X Account Hacked, Causing Frenzy Over Bitcoin ETF
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